I don't think I've ever seen a Japanese team win a pairs event before.

They borrowed that guy from Canada. Narumi is the weaker link. She fell times after times. But she has some lovely qualities that really push their PCS above their rivals. If she's as strong as Yuko, I think this pair would dominate in the future. I prefer them over Sui/Han.

Eyewitness Thoughts

Finally, I get to go to the notebook and transcribe some notes I took earlier today at the arena. Have not seen protocols yet.

First Group Warm-Up: The Russians, Canadians, and Americans are all having issues especially with jumps. The Chinese seem to be OK. The American couple is closely matched in height--maybe only 6" difference between them? She is too tall for him. Or he is too short for her. The other three teams have the more typical Man-little Girl matchup in sizes.

Silaeva/Minchuk--Big jumping problems, slow (for Russians), skating tentatively. He really yells loudly on the Sbs spin counts, heh-heh. They need more work at the junior level.

Jones/Gaskell--Replacement team for Sui/Han who withdrew to skate Sr GPF. Start with nice speed, but she has some jump failures in the first Sbs pass. His come in the second pass. Some decent elements and nice lines here. They are rough and absolutely juniorish right now, but this pair might have some potential.

Yu/Jin--Ooh...music flashback to 2006 Totmianina/Marinin. Some very nice elements here, including what I swear was a triple twist (not the double everyone else seemed to be doing). Completely out of sync in the spins, hard fall on the second throw, but good recovery. Ugly death spiral. Noticed he skates very simply and carefully when she's up in a lift. I thought they had nice lines and presentation for this level, which may not have come across on video screen. Nice interstitial skating as well.

Cain/Reagan--They look more mature, or maybe it's just their bodies. Got through their jumps OK. Bad fall for her on a throw. Slow spins. She kind of lost it at the end of a lift but fortunately no fall. The choreography of this program has some "dead zones" in it, and overall I think too much music firepower for their abilities right now. He is very tentative especially on the lifts, and it's a bit scary. He seems to be the weak link on this team, and I'm not sure a tiny partner would help. She hits nice lines but may be too tall for pairs. I see a clouded future for this pair.

I kind of wished the Chinese and the Americans would have switched Romeo and Juliet versions...and I think things would have worked better.

Second Group Warm-up: Japanese and Russians are clearly more in command of the ice than the Canadians, who seem to have trouble getting into the spirit. The announcer tells us over the PA system that ISU VP David Dore is in attendance. (I mutter under my breath "thank God it's not Speedy") and also that Shen/Zhao are in attendance, which makes half the audience stand up and crane their necks looking for the Exalted pair, sitting in the VIP section.

Purich / Schultz--I really dislike blues music of any type for single, pairs, or dance skaters that are not experienced and mature--it just isn't the easiest music to properly interpret. This couple used theirs mostly as wallpaper. Lots of technical problems with this team, which made me wonder how they made the JGP final, unless they were just having an unusually bad day today. They slow down their skating noticeably when heading into any element. This team has their work cut out for them.

Steele/Schultz--Another pair with relatively little height difference. I like their music and program though not their outfits. Pretty good speed. She has some jump bobbles, and they are tentative getting into their lifts. Fall on a throw, awkward spirals. Not sure if this team is going to get much farther, especially if she has any more growing/filling out to do.

Stolbova/Klimov--Humorous program, it suits them and is entertaining--the crowd gets into it. Good Russian speed throughout. Best Sbs spins so far, nice death spiral. She had an unfortunate bellyflop on her first Sbs jump, but other than that, it was a very decent skate. This couple is more polished than the previous ones, and the strongest basic skating skills. A couple to watch for the future.

Takahashi/Tran--Even before they start, I think this pair has room to make a couple of mistakes and still win. Skating on the Sr GP and doing respectably will not go unnoticed by the judges. Well, as if reading my thoughts, she falls on first Sbs jumps. Then they stop fooling around and get to working their program. A bobble on the throw 3F, but mostly very high quality for this level. They have obviously been working to polish their presentation, and competing also in Seniors has probably forced them to lift their game faster than might have otherwise happened. I think this score will pass Russians, and it does.

Podium of T/T, K/S, and Y/J was same as FS order of finish, and I concur.

Last edited by dorispulaski; 12-12-2010 at 06:07 PM.
Reason: correct name of team members

It would seem to me like people on this forum are quite keen to knock these skaters who have all work so hard to get to the grand prix/ there is no questioned that everyone can have a difficult skate/ they have all worked through size differences, growth periods and injuries to get to where they are . Let's give them some words of encouragement and congratulate them for getting to the final. I would really like to know if all these comments come from anyone who has even achieved a portion of what these skaters have!!

Look, this forum is for people with opinions on skating. All types of opinions. That means you may get some you like, and some you don't agree with. If you can't stomach this, stay off the forums. That advice goes double if you are a family member or close friend of a skater, and are also prone to easiily-hurt feelings. This advice goes triple when reading through any thread that has to do with a major competition--performances and results. It won't be a Kumbayah Love Fest--people aren't blind and they call it as they see it. Elite skating is tough going, we all KNOW this, and is also a judged sport that requires a reasonably tough hide to take losses, criticism, unfairness, and lousy luck. Oddly enough, that's also the nature of Life in general. If you had read other threads on this forum, you would also know that plenty of people give encouragement and congratulations when they feel it is due. What any of us achieved, or didn't achieve in skating, is irrelevant.

ETA: Rereading this, I realize it sounds rather harsh, and I really don't mean to be ugly. But rather than change it since I feel it is accurate, I'll offer up this: Remember that most of us commenting on competitions are focusing on the SKATING and not on the motivation, work ethic, character, or other personal qualities of the skater(s) themselves. Disappointing performances can be put out by wonderful people, or put another way, a sucky performance does NOT equal a sucky person. Also: one sucky performance does not condemn a skater to putting out a lifetime of the same. There is always possible redemption at the next competition. We know this.

For those who wish to read only good things about their favorite skaters, there are several options:

1. Go to fansites for that skaters or team, or the official website of that skater or team.
For example, both YuNa and D&W have great fansites.
2. Start a thread called I love ____ (fill in blank with your favorite skater). Usually people will respect that the intent of the thread is to praise and report on a particular team or skater. (On GS, YuNa News is such a lovefest thread, at least most days )
3. Read reports from your skater's home country's skating federation, which are usually quite rah rah in composition.

GS requires people to never report unsourced rumors, and to refrain from insults about the private lives & characters of skaters, but anything seen and reported on in a performance is encouraged. We like skating. If no one told us what the skating looked like live, we would be very disappointed. Having someone say Rah Rah Go Jeannie LooLoo is no substitute, and gets very boring after a while.